Seven of the eight nominees for best show have not previously been nominated in the same category at the ‘Oscars of live comedy’Standup about infertility, jokes about a Georgian gourmand, and an experimental clowning fever dream: the shortlist has been…
Continue ReadingSeven of the eight nominees for best show have not previously been nominated in the same category at the ‘Oscars of live comedy’Standup about infertility, jokes about a Georgian gourmand, and an experimental clowning fever dream: the shortlist has been…
Continue ReadingRachael Gunn’s disastrous summer at the Paris Games in 2024 has inspired a silly show about ‘Spraygun’ but its jibes are unfairEveryone can have a bad day at the office. But for most of us, it doesn’t take place in front of millions of viewers at the w…
Continue ReadingAssembly Roxy, EdinburghEmma Maye Gibson’s outre alter ego conjures a bacchanalian helter-skelter of burlesque moments that never quite cohereThis experimental act from Australia knows how to create merry anarchy with incantatory rituals and boundary-f…
Continue ReadingUnderbelly Cowgate, EdinburghA Peruvian boy has a sexual awakening in a show about religion, patriarchy and homophobia, featuring sweet and smutty songs with a Latin twistThe image of Jesus has been used by some to shame and subjugate queer people acro…
Continue ReadingOasis’s tour gobbled up Edinburgh audiences while fringe comics put on shows about Britpop and Arctic Monkeys. The music industry and the funny business could be more entwined than ever‘Comedy is the new rock’n’roll!” This line, variously attributed to…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe slick standup’s fringe debut is full of searching questions about the right to keep and bear arms‘I’ve got a gun.” Nice to be pitched, with that opening line, straight into a show declaring itself different from the ot…
Continue ReadingPleasance Courtyard, EdinburghChakira Alin’s buoyant show is shot through with bitterness as she gives a lucid account of Hackney’s transformationIn her solo show about the aftermath of gentrification and austerity, Chakira Alin bemoans the rise of cos…
Continue ReadingMonkey Barrel, EdinburghThe standup’s tale of teenage travails, guilt and redemption borders on the sentimental but gets the balance rightThere’s trauma comedy, finding laughter in the very worst moments of our lives. But there’s space too for quite-a-…
Continue ReadingThe city is plastered with festival posters during August. If you want to make an impression, beware goofy grins and try channelling Charli xcxThe Edinburgh fringe is in full swing and I’m looking for my posters. Which, given the function of a poster, …
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